Doc Next Door
by Ingenuity15
Summary: Single mom Bella Swan and her four year old son move to Seattle to start over. Lucky for her, the gorgeous doctor and father next door is single as well. Fun and drama ensues as they bring their families together. Canon Couples. Daddyward and Docward.
1. Chapter 1

**BPOV**

"Adam, get your little butt back here and help me with your stuff please!" I pleaded with my four year old son. We had just moved from our old home in sunny Phoenix, Arizona to rainy Seattle and were now unpacking the last of our things. All of our furniture had been shipped down and set up last week, so it was only the smaller things like our clothes, toys, books etc. that we needed to bring down in our van for our very, _very,_ long drive.

And when I say long, I mean the kind of long that comes from sitting hour upon hour in a very cramped space, with a four year old boy who hates being in one place for any extended period of time and only breaking when we needed to eat or sleep.

It seemed that the last six hours in the van had been enough and Adam was ready to run around and get into some kind of mischief. Although I shouldn't complain, I really did have it better than a lot of single moms out there. Adam was extremely well behaved for someone his age and even though he did get into trouble at times, I can always depend on him to understand the important things. Like this move for instance.

I looked around the open trunk filled with boxes and groaned at the thought of unloading them all. One of the downsides to moving to a town where no one knows you; no one to help you unpack.

"Adam, I could really use your help right about now," I called out, unloading a small box of his stuffed animals and glaring at it as a monkey poked his head out of the top and grinned at me cheekily.

"But mom, I'm playing with my new friend! Can't we just do that later?" Leave it to my son to not even be fully moved into a new place and have already made a new friend. Although he looks a lot like me – brown hair that gets curly when wet, dark brown eyes and a bottom lip that was fuller than the top – his personality was nothing like mine.

Adam was not only very into sports, but had to be one of the most out going kids in the world. He never had that cute, little shy stage where he would hide behind someone's legs or get nervous about meeting new people. Nope, completely missed over that. If someone he had never met before was around, he would walk right up and introduce himself, then talk to them as if they had been best friends for years. It had been hard trying to make him understand the whole 'not going with or taking candy from strangers' bit as he always seemed to want to look for the best in everyone, which was probably the only things he got from me. Well that and his insatiable thirst for books.

I looked around for Adam and quickly found him trying to kick a soccer ball over to another boy on the adjacent lawn. The other boy looked to be a little older than him, his brown hair had a reddish tinge to it, and his bluish-green eyes twinkled as he waved to me.

"Hi! My name's Steven and I just turned seven last week." The boy, Steven, stated proudly as he puffed out his chest. "This is my house so I guess we're neighbors now, huh?"

I had to laugh because this kid was just too cute! I was already loving my decision to move here now that I knew Adam would have someone around his own age to play with and that the neighborhood looked to be as nice as it had seemed when I came to check it out last month.

Two months ago was when I finally decided that things were enough and that Adam and I needed a new start, away from all the drama that had forced itself into our lives . My first thought upon deciding this had been _'now what's the farthest place from here that's the least like Phoenix?'_. Almost instantly I thought of Seattle.

I was here a few years back, and although it was rainy and the sun rarely ever shined, I loved it. So, with that choice made, I prepared all the appropriate arrangements for this move, including flying up to see the houses the real estate agent had recommended. As soon as I had laid my eyes on this one, I knew it was perfect.

Not too small, but not too big for just the two of us, the cute little three bedroom house was exactly what I was looking for. It was bluish-grey, with a small porch, large kitchen, formal living room, a basement I was planning on turning into a family/games room for myself and Adam, and – the big seller – a huge backyard.

The neighborhood looked friendly and the elementary school Adam would be attending as of September was a five minute walk from here, so I would easily be able to drop him off and pick him up. All in all, I was very pleased with this move and being a freelance writer, I didn't have to worry about finding a new job because I could write from anywhere.

I looked over at the boys and smiled. "I guess we are, and I think we're going to love living here if everyone is as sweet as you are. I'm afraid I have to take Adam for a little bit though so we can unload and get settled, but I promise you guys will have loads of time to hang out once we're done."

They both looked sad and it broke my heart a little when Adam came over to me with slumped shoulders and shuffling his feet. "Mom, can I please stay out and play for just a little longer? I promise to put away my stuff after dinner! _Pleeeeeeease_?"

"Yeah, could he _please_ stay out?" I looked over only to find that both boys had stuck out their bottom lip and widened their eyes while placing their hands in a pleading gesture under their chin. I mean, did they plan this out ahead of time or what? It was so hard not to laugh, and I knew I couldn't say no to those faces! Totally unfair for them to use it against me, they probably knew that face was my one weakness.

I sighed dramatically but then ruffled Adam's hair with a slight grin. "Fine, but you'll have to take care of me when I break my back from lifting these heavy boxes all by myself!" I chuckled as they both cheered and Adam ran back to continue his game of 'soccer' with Steven. "And make sure you guys stay in sight! No running off on any adventures!"

I returned to the van and groaned as I took in all the boxes once again. "Damn that stupid face…" I mumbled under my breath as I picked up the stuffed animal box and began the long process of unloading the van.

.~***~.

I closed the trunk with a sigh of relief and bent to retrieve the final box. _Fuck, this weighs a ton!_ I thought as I strained to keep hold of it. I realized it was a large box of my books, the majority of them being big, hard covered, and extremely heavy. It was at times like these I wished I had some muscles in my body.

With no small amount of effort I managed to get up the stairs without tripping, but apparently that's where my luck ended; I had stupidly closed the door on my way out and now had to figure out how to get it open without dropping the heavy box.

I thought about calling Adam over to help, but he looked so happy out playing, and I still kind of felt guilty for uprooting him so suddenly, so I decided to let him be and manage it on my own. I mean, how hard could it really be?

That was the last of my positive thoughts as I proved how very clumsy and cursed I really was. Figuring it was a good idea, I leaned the box against the door, using my knee and one hand to keep it steady, leaving my left hand free to open the door. Too bad I didn't think about what would happen once it swung open…

Because the door was supporting the majority of the box's weight, when it was opened, the force from the box caused it to suddenly swing inward, and because the door could no longer support the box, it fell forward. My efforts to recover it were in vain, and because of my luck, the awkward position I had put myself in allowed for the box to fall directly on my ankle.

I cried out as I heard a crack, and having more experience then anyone should with these kinds of injuries, knew it was broken. Books scattered around me as I tried to shift my position – without causing more pain – and get a better look at my ankle. When I did see it and the swelling that had already started, I knew my suspicions were confirmed.

"Mom!" I heard my son yell as both he and Steven ran over. Steven seemed to be somewhat panicked, but Adam was used to these things happening with me. Thankfully he didn't inherit my inability to walk on a flat surface without tripping. "What did you do this time?"

I laughed and although my eyes were clouded with tears from the pain, I could still make out his eye roll as he sighed in exasperation. Seriously, he was four years old and he was already tired of me falling everywhere!

"Broke my ankle this time, so we won't be able to drive to the hospital. Do you remember that number I taught you for the ambulance?" It was the first number I had made him learn by heart and thankfully he's only had to use it twice.

"Yes mom. It's not that hard to remember. But do I have to go with you this time? It's always so boring there!" he exclaimed as he threw his arms in the air and sat next to me on the floor.

"Unfortunately I don't know any of the adults here yet, so I'm afraid you're going to have to stick with me kiddo." I had almost forgotten that Steven was in the room until he spoke up.

"He could always stay with me and my dad. I'm sure he wouldn't mind taking him for a little bit! Or better yet, I'll just go get him. He's a doctor at the hospital anyways so he could fix you up here!" I called after him, but the little tyke was already out the door and dashing over to his house. This was just how I wanted to meet my new neighbor, on the floor with a broken ankle and a four-year-old son who by now knew all the basics of first aid. I could feel the blush forming on my face already.

A beaming Steven came back and sat next to Adam on the floor. "My dad's on his way over. He just needed to grab his stuff. I told him to take his time because you were apparently used to this kind of stuff." I closed my eyes and leaned my head back as I groaned in embarrassment. Things couldn't get worse.

Just then, someone cleared their throat to get my attention. During my self-pitying moment, I hadn't heard anyone approach. My blush deepened as I looked up into the person's face. Bad move.

This man was not possibly a mere mortal. He had to be some kind of God! From my angle on the floor I could make out the rippling abs underneath his shirt, his toned arms, the strong jaw line, the perfect masculine lips, what could only be described as bronze 'sex hair', and the most beautiful set of emerald eyes I had ever seen. I must have been just staring at him for a while because my son felt the need to interrupt.

"Geez, mom. Aren't you going to say hi? Didn't you tell me it was rude to stare at people?" And the embarrassment continued. I quickly turned away to try and hide my blush as the man above me chuckled.

"No worries, I didn't take any offence by it. I'm Edward Cullen, Steven's father." He held out his hand for me to shake and I took it in my own while I tried to get my face back to its normal color.

"Bella Swan," I responded, getting too caught in his eyes to say anymore than that. He smiled crookedly at me and I swear my heart nearly beat out of my chest. Fuck, I wanted this man, and bad!

"Nice to meet you. My son says you had an accident over here," he said as he knelt down beside me. It wasn't until then that I noticed the medical bag he had brought with him. In my lust filled daze I had completely missed that detail, as well as having forgotten about my ankle. Now that he had mentioned it the pain came back and I cringed.

"I somehow managed to drop a box of books on it. I'm pretty positive it's broken." I hissed as he gently grazed his fingers over it. I suddenly felt really bad about taking up this gorgeous man's time. Being a doctor, he probably did this numerous times a day and more than likely didn't want to be doing it on his time off. "You know, you really don't have to do this. I can easily go to the hospital and get someone who's working today to look at it."

"What, you don't think I'm a good enough doctor to be able to do something as simple as setting a bone?"

Apparently I missed his smirk because I instantly freaked, thinking I had offended him. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for it to sound… I just meant… I wasn't trying to…"

Edward laughed loudly and I shut my mouth tightly. "Bella, I was just teasing you. And I really don't mind doing this. I can't bake a pie to save my life so this can be my 'welcome to the neighborhood' gift to you."

"Oh. Thank you." I knew my face was beet red at this point but he didn't seem to notice or at least didn't mention it.

As Edward started to take stuff out of his bag, the boys began to chat eagerly with us. They had known each other for about two hours and they were already like two peas in a pod.

"Hey Edward, do you think I could stay with you the next time this happens?" my son questioned. "I really hate the hospital and I've had to go _so_ many times for mom to get checked out. Do you think you could fix her? I think she might be broke 'cause she trips an awful lot over nothing at all." How could something as simple as a child's observation be so damn embarrassing? That was definitely a word I was getting to know a little too familiarly.

Edward laughed at my obvious discomfort, but Steven responded before he could. "Well I guess it's a really good thing that you live next to a doctor now, huh?" his son said to me. "And he's single too," he added with a wink.

I bit my lip to try and contain my amusement but a few giggles managed to get through as I noticed Edward's cheeks tinge pink. "Steven! Why on earth did you say that?" he scolded.

"Because Grandma told me too! She said that I should tell every pretty, 'unattached' woman you meet that you're single because she wants you to be happy." He put air quotes around the word unattached and paused but seemed to remember there was more. "Oh, and she wants some more grandbabies!"

My stomach started to cramp because I was laughing that hard, and Edward's attempt to glare at me wasn't making it any better. "It's not funny," he said, but the twitching of his lips as he tried to keep a frown told me he wasn't really upset, so I continued to laugh.

"Steven, why don't you and Adam go play while I finish fixing up Bella's ankle? And please, don't listen to your Grandmother anymore," he called out as the boys ran away to check out Adam's new room.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Edward groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can't believe he actually said that."

"Aw, well I think it's sweet that he's trying to set his father up, even if it was upon his grandmother's request." I laughed lightly at this.

"She means well, she really does. But she and my sister can be so meddlesome, especially when it comes to my love life. Or lack there of." He carefully set my foot in a brace and helped me to stand and sit on the couch. "There. It only seems to be a slight fracture so you shouldn't need a full cast, but you should still make an appointment to go in and get an x-ray done to confirm. Until then, try to relax as much as possible and keep that foot propped up."

I quirked an eyebrow at him. "You try to relax when you're the single mother of a four year old boy and you've just moved to the other side of the country and need to unpack about a gazillion boxes."

He laughed along with me. "Well, I guess I can see your point there. But you really do need to rest that foot. I wouldn't mind watching Adam during my days off, and I'm sure my mother would love to watch him when I'm working and she is looking after Steven."

I started to protest but he wasn't having that. "I'm sure it would make the boys really happy to get to hang out together and besides, if my mother takes on your son as her adopted grandchild, she might not push me as hard to give her some more."

I laughed again. "Well at least let me pay you then. I would hate for you to do this for me for absolutely nothing in return."

He looked affronted, but at my pleading look he began to think over something. "Can you cook?" It was a random question but I nodded. I was actually quite skilled when it came to the culinary arts. "It would seem that I'm one of those fathers who can only cook mac and cheese from the package, and I'm sure Steven would be eternally grateful if every once and a while we all had dinner together."

I was speechless. This amazing male specimen _wanted_ to have dinner with _me_? Granted, our sons would be there and it wasn't like it was a date, but he actually seemed to be excited to spend more time with me than being neighbors required. I realized he was waiting for my response and gave him a wide smile. "I think I can manage that."

His answering smile completely dazzled me, and it wasn't until our sons came barging into the room and we jumped apart that I realized we had slowly been leaning closer together.

"Hey dad, aren't we supposed to be going over to Aunt Alice's and Uncle Jasper's tonight?"

Edward smacked his forehead as he was reminded of the previous engagement and I was surprised at how sad I was that he obviously had to leave.

"I completely forgot about that." He stood, but wouldn't allow me to do the same so I could see him to the door. "No, you rest that ankle of yours, and remember that I'm taking care of Adam tomorrow so there are no excuses for you to be up. Unpacking these boxes can wait another week." I sighed in frustration but nodded my consent to stay put. "I'm also making you an appointment to get in for an x-ray sometime this week and will take you there and back. I'm not taking no for an answer and if you really want to repay me, my favorite is chicken parmesan." He winked at me and I couldn't find it in myself to argue. The traveling and unpacking, not to mention the broken ankle, had taken a lot out of me and to be honest, the idea of someone taking care of me, while foreign, was a really nice thought.

He turned around to face Adam and crouched down so that they were face to face. "Now buddy, I need you to make sure that your mom doesn't move around too much, okay? And I'd really like it if you came over and spent the day with Steven and I tomorrow." He smiled as Adam bounced up and down in excitement.

"Can I mom?" he asked me desperately, getting ready to put on the pleading face.

"Of course you can! I'm sure you boys will have an awesome day." He smiled wider and turned back to Steven and Edward who were now at the door and about to leave. "See you tomorrow!" he exclaimed.

"Bye Adam! Hope you feel better soon, Bella, and remember my dad's still single!" I burst into peals of laughter as Edward glowered at his son.

"Didn't I tell you to stop saying that?" Steven merely shrugged his shoulders unapologetically and Edwards sighed before allowing a tiny smile. "See you tomorrow, Adam." He then turned to me and I sincerely hoped I wasn't imagining the look of interest in his eyes. "Sweet dreams, Bella."

And with that they were both out the door. I closed my eyes and allowed a grin to spread across my face before realizing I wasn't in the room alone. I looked over to Adam to find him looking at all the books that were still lying haphazardly around the room. Doctor's orders or not, things still had to get done.

"Come on, Adam. Help mom clean up the mess she made."

* * *

I'm currently rewriting this as I've decided I wanted to make it more of a fluffy, family filled story instead of one with the danger and possible threats I had started to write. So if you're rereading this and can't help thinking something is missing, that is why.

I would like to also thank Kambria Rain and her fic Bella Swan: Kidnapper for inspiring me to write this. If you haven't read it yet, you really should!

~Ingenuity15


	2. Chapter 2

Ages: Steven - recently turned 7 / Adam - 4, soon to be 5 / Bella - 26 / Edward – 28

* * *

**EPOV**

Frustrated. That was the only word I could come up with to adequately describe how I was feeling. It was a beautiful day out, my supposed 'day off', and yet, instead of being out in the front yard playing some ball with my son, here I was stuffed inside my home office finishing up paper work on some patients.

I sighed and looked out the window to see Steven playing with the soccer ball by himself. I couldn't help but think that I was a terrible father. Being an ER doctor took up a lot of my time and even though I took on the job mainly to provide an amazing future for my son, it meant that I was missing his childhood.

So maybe I wasn't terrible. I have gone to every one of his sports games, done the parent/teacher meetings, had time set aside for us to just hang out, but I still felt like I was failing at being a good parent. I mean, this neighborhood was beautiful, and certainly child friendly, but my son never played with any kids his own age. His teachers told me that he was a good student, but extremely shy, which surprised me since he always seemed so outgoing with our family. I guess he was just more comfortable around us, but I had my suspicions that his quietness around others came from my divorce with his mother.

Just thinking about that vile woman made my skin crawl. She had been a one night stand who had shown up two months later claiming to be pregnant with my child, and after the paternity test my family and I insisted on, I found out she was telling the truth.

I'm not an idiot who had a drunken night of unprotected sex, I was sober - although thinking back, I wish I hadn't been as it was the worst sex of my life - and I had used a condom. I just figured I was in the 3% that it wasn't effective for. I didn't find out the real story until the divorce was underway.

I tried to do the right thing and marry the girl I knocked up, only to have her tell me she wants a divorce two years after our son was born. I still remember every word of that conversation too…

****Flashback****

_I was situated in my office in our old home when my wife came bursting in. I didn't even look up as I was used to her having absolutely zero respect for my privacy, all so she could come in and bitch out at me for some pointless reason or other. "What is it this time Tanya?" I asked in a tired voice. I had had a long day at work and really didn't need this right now. _

_I looked up only to see she had a self-satisfied smirk on her face as she slapped some papers down in front of me. "These are the terms for our divorce, so I suggest you sign it and we can move on with our lives." She held a pen out to me while she examined her nails in apparent boredom._

_"You really think I'm stupid enough to sign anything without looking it over with my lawyer first?" I laughed at her audacity. Really, I may have been stupid enough to try and make 'us' work, but I knew her ways, and I also knew that she would try and squeeze me for every penny I was worth. I was warned that this was coming. Her lawyer was actually a good friend of mine who, unfortunately, was forced to represent Tanya due to family ties. He had called me earlier to explain that she was claiming spousal abuse and neglect and that she was asking for 75% of 'our money' while she would allow me to have all rights to our son. I had to laugh. _

'Our money'_ was all _my_ money. I thought that I would be nice since we were both pretty well forced into this marriage and create a shared account for us both. My family was extremely wealthy and I was completing my internship in the ER at the nearest hospital to eventually become a surgeon, meaning I had a shit load of money lying around and would have more in the future._

_Tanya didn't work, claiming she had to take care of herself and the baby, when really she was out with friends spending _my_ money frivolously on anything she could get her claws on. As soon as I figured out what was going on I split the account so she could only use the amount of money I chose to give her each month; a type of allowance you could say. I won't go into detail about what happened when she found out I was basically cutting her off, but it was not pretty._

_She glared at me when I told her I would look it over with my lawyer sometime this week, and I knew an outburst was coming, so I slipped my hand under my desk and stealthily hit the record button on the tape recorder I had hidden there earlier this morning. Like I said, I knew this was coming and I wasn't against using her anger to make sure she never saw an ounce of my money and that her parental rights to Steven were revoked completely. _

_"What the fuck do you mean you'll look it over? We both know neither of us wanted this marriage so just sign the fucking papers and leave my house," she screeched at me._

_"Tanya, we both know that this is _my_ house as _I _was the one who paid for it. In fact I paid for everything you own." I stepped around my desk to face her, laughing at her which just seemed to fuel her anger. "And you don't fool anyone with your 'neither of us wanted it' crap. You couldn't wait to marry me, which I have realized for sometime now is only because you wanted the power my name and money could bring you. In fact, the only reason I haven't divorced you yet was because I wanted Steven to grow up with a loving family. I can see now that that will never happen with you here. So, once I've made _many_ adjustments to these terms you can pack up, leave my house, and get out of our lives."_

_"This is all your fucking fault!" she screamed at me, poking my chest. "If you would have just taken interest in me when I tried to seduce you then I wouldn't have had to make sure you got me pregnant!"_

_I stared at her, my face a blank mask. "What the hell are you talking about, Tanya?"_

_She seemed to find my surprise funny as she cackled. "You're an even bigger idiot than I thought if you really believed I'd let myself get pregnant from a one night stand. No, I planned it because I knew it was my only way to get you to marry me. I got off of my birth control and then when I finally got you into bed, I made sure to rip the condom."_

_If I wasn't raised to never hit a woman, I swear I would have beaten the shit out of her. "So you decided to fuck with my life and make us both parents just so you could get my money? This isn't some sort of game, Tanya! There is now a little boy who needs to be loved and nurtured and you didn't think that maybe doing this could screw up that child's life as well?" I was furious. How could she bring a child into this world, knowing that she would never be there for them, never wanted them, and that it would eventually end like this?_

_"Oh honey," she said condescendingly, as she patted my cheek, "I don't care about what happens to our bastard child, I just want the money and the name. I don't know why, but for some reason I know that you love that spawn of the devil and so you'll sign those papers the way they are or I'll make sure you never see it again. The court always sides with the mother, especially when abuse and neglect are brought up." She pretended to cry but then smirked to me as she turned on her heel and laughed her way out of the room, slamming the door behind her._

_I was glad she didn't turn around, or she may have seen the triumphant smile on my face as I turned off the tape recorder that had captured every word she had said. With this kind of evidence, I would bring this case to the judge and there was no way I would lose._

****End Flashback****

And I was right. With the tape and other evidence of her abuse of my money and her neglect of _my _son, Tanya received nothing and her rights to Steven were terminated immediately. She had cried and tried the 'abuse and neglect' card, saying I was always at work and expected her to do everything alone, that I was never there for her or our son. The testimony of the nanny she had hired quickly disproved her claims as she confirmed Tanya was the one who was never around, who expected me to do everything, and more than once verbally abused me.

Tanya was humiliated and moved to God knows where. I decided it was time to get out of the large, cold house Tanya had chosen and into one that I could see my little family growing up in. Being a single father was really rough for the first year, but my mother and little sister Alice chipped in a lot and by now we had a pretty nice routine going. I would drop Steven off to school in the mornings and on workdays a member of my family would pick him up and bring him to whatever activities he had until my shift was over. The hardest weeks to figure out had been those where I was on call. I could be called in at any point during the night and it was just too hard on everyone to drop Steven off at such ridiculous hours. We finally decided on those weeks we would both stay at my parent's house and that way I didn't have to worry about waking him or having to leave him home alone while someone drove over to watch him.

Looking out the window again, I was surprised to find another boy playing with Steven. There were a few children in this neighborhood, but Steven disliked them all, and after meeting them and their parents, I could understand why. All of them – especially the Newtons – were completely stuck up, rude and arrogant. If this house wasn't so conveniently located for both my job and Steven's school, I would have moved the moment after our neighbors had come over to greet us.

The other boy who had joined Steven on the lawn looked to be younger and had brown curly hair. I couldn't remember having met him before, but soon realized this was probably because he was one of our new neighbors. The moving trucks had come in last week and I can remember the chaos that was going on as they moved all the furniture into the house next door that had been vacant for a while now.

As the movers had continued their work, I can remember hoping for this to be an older, happily married couple and not another woman who would try to seduce me. I'm not a vain person, but I'm not an idiot either. I'm fully aware that I'm fairly attractive, and a successful doctor, but did that really mean that woman had to throw themselves at me? It wouldn't be so bad had these women not all been like Tanya – only after my money, name, and looks – not to mention many of them were married and had children of their own! For once, I would just like to meet a nice, _single_ woman who would like me and not what I could buy for her.

I was broken out of my thoughts when I heard a muffled crash and saw Steven and the other boy run off the lawn and towards the house next door. Quickly getting up, I made my way to the front door before looking the way they had run, hoping they weren't getting into any trouble. I didn't see them anywhere and took a few moments to contemplate where they could have gone off to. I had told Steven to never go to anyone's home without me, or letting me know, but maybe he had gone to see what that noise had been?

Just as I was about to make my way down the road to see if they had gone to the next street, Steven ran out of the neighboring house, spotted me, and made his way over. "Dad! Dad! You need to meet my new best friend, Adam! He's awesome and is going to be starting in my school in September." I wanted reprimand him for going into a stranger's home, but he was so happy, and I hadn't seen him smile like that outside of spending time with our family.

"That's great son, but what have I told you about going into people's homes, especially when I haven't met them before?" I asked.

"I know! But we heard this loud noise and then Adam said that it was probably his mom because she falls and drops things a lot, so we had to make sure she was okay! But she's not, well she is because Adam said she's used to it, but she said her ankle was broken and that he needed to call for an ambulance because she can't drive. Well, Adam doesn't want to go to the hospital because he says it's boring there, I don't think it's boring when I go there with you but that's because I get to play doctor! Anyway, there's no one to look after him yet so he'd have to go. But then I thought I'd just come and get you because you're a doctor and that means no one has to go to the hospital! Isn't that great?" He took a deep breath before letting it all out again and smiled widely at me.

I couldn't help but let out a chuckle at his enthusiasm. I had never met these people before, but I was already thankful to them for getting my boy to come out of his shell some. Going into doctor mode, I told Steven to run back over and let Adam's mom know I would be over as soon as I grabbed a few things. Grabbing my bag and a spare brace that were still left in my car, I made my way over and couldn't help but sigh in resignation. Apparently there was another woman on the street and by the sounds of it she was a single mother. These ones tended to be the worst as the ones I bump into always seem to be looking for a new father for their children; one with lots of money preferably.

I could only hope this one would be different.

Making my way to the open front door, I followed a groaning sound to see my current patient sprawled on the floor with books strewn around her. Her head was tilted back and her eyes were closed so I figured she must not have noticed me yet. I cleared my throat to get her attention only to have the breath knocked out of me by the most beautiful pair of chocolate brown eyes I had ever seen. My world seemed to stop for a bit as I took in the sight of the woman before me; heart shaped face, mahogany hair in soft curls that I wanted to run my fingers through, soft plump lips I wanted to kiss, curvy body I wanted to hold against my own. It wasn't until her son spoke that I remembered where we were and that I didn't even know the name of the beauty in front of me.

"Geez, mom. Aren't you going to say hi? Didn't you tell me it was rude to stare at people?" She blushed and it only enhanced her stunning features. I chuckled as I realized she must have been checking me out as well. And for once, I didn't mind.

To save her from the obvious embarrassment I decided to introduce myself. "No worries, I didn't take any offence by it. I'm Edward Cullen, Steven's father." I held out my hand for her to shake and was instantly gratified by the feeling of how perfectly her small hand fit into my own larger one.

"Bella Swan." It was only two words but I now knew two very important things; the name of this angel and that fact that her voice was just as beautiful as she was.

I smiled at her and got down to business examining her ankle. I could tell that if it was broken, it was only a small fracture as she still had some mobility to it. She probably wouldn't need anything but the brace, although I might have to bring some crutches back if she would insist on walking around and she should definitely go in and have it x-rayed. She explained how she had dropped the box of books and I tried not to laugh at how flustered she became when I joked that she didn't think I was qualified enough to be a doctor.

It was a futile attempt and I ended up laughing anyway. "Bella, I was just teasing you." I loved saying her name, so I decided to use it as often as I could. "And I really don't mind doing this. I can't bake a pie to save my life so this can be my 'welcome to the neighborhood' gift to you".

"Oh, thank you."

It was as I was putting things back into my bag that I remembered the boys were still in the room. I had never seen my son take to someone as fast as he had to Adam.

"Hey Edward, do you think I could stay with you the next time this happens?" Adam questioned me. I smiled at how he phrased it as if this would occur often in the future. "I really hate the hospital and I've had to go so many times for mom to get checked out. Do you think you could fix her? I think she might be broke 'cause she trips an awful lot over nothing at all." I burst into laughter as Bella's cheeks grew a heated shade of red in embarrassment. Unfortunately, I forgot my own son loved to mortify me as well.

"Well I guess it's a really good thing that you live next to a doctor now, huh? And he's single too." He winked at Bella and I could feel myself blush. I really couldn't have her think I used my child to help me pick up women.

I could see Bella biting her lip to keep the laughter at bay but a few giggles escaped. "Steven! Why on earth did you say that?" I scolded him, cheeks still pink.

"Because Grandma told me too!" Well that explained everything. My mother had never liked Tanya, but then again neither had I, and had been spending the past four years since my divorce trying to find me 'the one'. In her opinion, I wasn't getting any younger, and as my son pointed out she wanted more grandchildren. Apparently she had now coerced my son into playing matchmaker as well.

I tried to glare at Bella who was now rolling on the floor in fits of laughter but could tell I was doing an awful job of it by the twitching I felt in my lips. I sent the boys away to go play somewhere else, mainly so we could avoid what I was sure to be a few more humiliating comments, and put the brace on Bella's foot. I helped her to the couch and sat down beside her, explaining that she needed to keep off her foot as much as possible.

She quirked an eyebrow at me. "You try to relax when you're the single mother of a four year old boy and you've just moved to the other side of the country and need to unpack about a gazillion boxes."

We laughed together and I was surprised by how comfortable this felt. I knew it was too soon, I'd known Bella for less then an hour, but that didn't stop me from feeling that she might just be someone I would like to have around for a long time.

After getting her to agree to letting me take the boys the next day and take her to the hospital later in the week, smoothly inviting myself – and my son of course – to her house for supper some time, I found myself wanting to ask her what brought her here, what her favorite color was, and what she did with her free time. I wanted to know her, and these feelings were so new and unexpected. I hadn't even realized we were leaning closer to each other until the boys came into the room and we jumped apart.

"Hey dad, aren't we supposed to be going over to Aunt Alice's and Uncle Jasper's tonight?" my son reminded me.

I had completely forgotten, although I don't think I could be to blame when in such wonderful company. With regret, we said our goodbyes after telling the boys Adam would be hanging out with us the next day to give Bella some rest. Walking towards my own house I felt an unwarranted sense of sadness at having to leave Bella, until I remembered she now lived next door to me, and since our boys were friends and I hoped that we were too, I would be seeing her quite often.

This brought a smile to my face as Steven and I got in the car to head out to my sister and brother-in-law's house for our weekly family dinner. They had also told us they had some exciting news to share with everyone, which I could only make a guess as to what it was. My sister was a spontaneous person so they might be telling us they've decided to move to Peru or something.

"Dad, do you like Adam's mom?" my son asked suddenly, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"She seems like a very nice lady," I said, not about to tell my son how I _really_ felt about Adam's mom.

"Mhmm, I thought so," he said, as if he had just solved some puzzling mystery. I just chuckled, although looking back, I probably should have known what his little mind had already decided.

I pulled into the beautiful two-story home and cut the engine. By the time I had stepped out of the car, Steven had already reached the front porch and was ringing the doorbell incessantly. I smiled as the door swung open and my son was swept up into a bear hug by his uncle Emmett.

"Put me down, put me down!" Steven squealed excitedly.

"How's the little man doing?" Emmett boomed. Even though he was my brother, our differences startled me. Emmett was two inches taller than my six foot and could be described as a bear of a man. His muscles had muscles (which is probably why he became a gym teacher - dabbling in personal training now and then) and he had a shock of black curly hair on top of his head. His outgoing and childlike personality was so different from mine that one would have never suspected we had come from the same family and if it wasn't for the proven paternity tests I asked for on my tenth birthday, I would have thought one of us was adopted.

I finally reached them and received my own hug from Emmett - a manly one of course. "So, did you hear what news Alice and Jasper have for us?"

"Nah, for once the little pixie is refusing to talk. The house is very quiet without her yapping her head off." His booming laughter shook me as he clapped a hand to my back and led me to the living room where my son was already playing video games with his uncle Jasper. The blond Texan nodded his head in greeting. He never was one for too many words, but that made him perfect for my sister who was notorious for being able to hold a conversation with herself.

Suddenly, I felt a small body collide with mine as Alice jumped to wrap her arms around my neck in a tight hug. Standing at 5'2, she was my little sister in both literal senses. We were twins (again with the paternity test to confirm this) but I was always quick to remind her that I was born an hour before her in any arguments. Because of it though, we always seemed to just get each other. Sure, I was more quiet and reserved than her free spirit, but there was no one else I could ever turn to if I had a problem or something on my mind. I just knew we'd be having a conversation about my new neighbors later on.

"Well it's nice to be appreciated around here. Lovely seeing you too, Alice," I laughed.

"Has everyone gotten their greetings over with? Good, now everyone sit down so we can hear the news!" my mother said, barely containing her excitement.

Emmett, Steven, and I opted for the couch and my parents took the love seat adjacent to it. Across from us, Alice sat in an over stuffed chair while Jasper placed himself on the armrest, holding her hand in two of his. They shared one of their silent looks, the ones that feel like you're intruding when you see them, and then turned to us.

"We're having a baby!" Alice squealed, no longer able to hold it in. She looked so happy, and if Jasper's grin was anything to go by, he was just as elated as she was. My mother was the first one to them as she held them both in her arms crying. To her, there was nothing more amazing in this world than family.

As happy as I was for them, I couldn't help the tinge of sadness as I remembered my own broken home. This is what I had wanted; a wife who I loved irrevocably and a shared elation at our growing family. I would never regret my son, he was my world, but I had always hoped the situation would have been better.

I got up to give my own congratulations and soon we had all settled down back into our places, all of us smiling at the thought of our newest family member. Someone cleared their throat and I looked to see Steven standing in front of us waiting for our attention.

"Auntie Alice and Uncle Jasper," he began, "I'm very happy to be getting a baby cousin soon but would it be okay if I made an announcement of my own?" Oh no. This couldn't be good. I must have outwardly groaned because Jasper looked to me with a smirk on his face before motioning for Steven to continue.

"Well, really there're two things I want to share. First is that I made a new best friend." Everyone smiled widely at this. They all knew of his aversion to people outside our family and were happy for him. "His name is Adam and he lives next door to us now. He's a few years younger but that's okay because I've always wanted to be a big brother." Again, I was saddened by the fact that I couldn't provide him with the happy family he deserved, but he didn't really seem bothered by it.

"And secondly," he looked over to me and I knew what he was going to say. I jumped up and grabbed him, tickling his sides so he couldn't speak, but the little bugger still managed to yell it out through his laughter. "Dad… has a crush… on Adam's mom!"

I put him down and, for the first time in many years, blushed in front of my family. My mother had a gleam in her eyes that said this subject wouldn't be changed anytime soon and Emmett's laughter resounded through the house as the rest of the family gave me highly amused looks.

"So Little Eddie's got the hots for the girl next door? Nice."

My face heated up more and I couldn't believe the reactions this woman was causing me to have. I had always been teased by Emmett and Jasper when they thought I might have some interest in someone, but never before had I acted like a chastised child, looking at my shuffling feet with a blushing face.

"I don't know what you're talking about. So Alice, you said you're due in March sometime?" I tried, and failed, to change the subject.

"Oh no you don't son. What's her name?" my mother spoke in a scolding tone, my father shaking in his attempt to keep a serious face through his amusement. I refused to speak. If I didn't say anything they'd hopefully forget about it. However, I forgot about the one other person in the room who knew all this information as well. And he would spill for cookies.

"Her name's Bella and she broke her ankle trying to bring in some boxes so I got dad to come and help her but he just stared at her! I mean, she was staring back but it was really weird. And then he would sometimes look at her like uncle Emmett looks at aunt Rosie when she whispers secrets in his ear. And _then_, when me and Adam came back out from playing in his room so I could remind dad we had to go, they were leaning in really close together! Do I get my cookies now?" He finally took a breath. I swear he spends too much time with my sister, not to mention he notices more than he should. The Emmett and Rose comment was too much and the room burst into laughter.

"After dinner, sweetie. Why don't you help your grandma set the table and tell me all about this Bella girl and your new best friend?" She took the little traitor's hand while listening intently as he spoke of our new neighbors. This was going to be a long night.

And I was right. The entire dinner was spent trying to fend off sexual innuendos from Emmett while ignoring the 'you-know-I'm-never-going-to-leave-this-alone-so-you-had-better-introduce-us-to-this-girl-soon' look from my mother. Never mind that I had just met her today and couldn't even make sense of my own feelings. I guess where I had never taken interest in any other woman since my divorce, they figured she was special and it must be 'love at first sight'. _Not love, but definitely lust _I thought as I recalled those chocolate brown eyes and her petite, curvy figure.

Scarily enough, in the short time I had known her I could already tell she would be a part of my future. I just didn't know what part that would be yet.

* * *

What did you think of the messy divorce? I never liked Tanya but I do love writing up the Cullen family dynamic! Thoughts so far?

~Ingenuity15


	3. Chapter 3

**BPOV**

His green eyes bored into mine as he lowered me to the bed. The feeling of his bare chest pressed against mine was pure ecstasy. I didn't want to miss a moment but keeping my eyes open was impossible. My heart was pounding loudly in my ears and I could barely make out what he was saying.

"Bella…"

The pounding was louder now, drowning out almost all sound.

"Bella, I…"

I shot up straight in my bed only to realize that I had been having a dream. A very sexy dream about my new neighbor, but a dream none the less. I also came to the realization that although my heart was indeed racing, the pounding was actually coming from someone knocking rather enthusiastically at the front door.

"I'm coming. Hold your horses!" I yelled, although I was pretty sure whoever was on the other side wouldn't hear me. I grabbed my silk robe and pulled it over my pajamas. Normally, I never would have opened the door in nothing but a short robe, shorts, and a camisole, but it was the only thing I had been able to unpack last night. I clunked my way to the door, every second step making a loud thud. Honestly, this brace was more like a giant, insulated boot. It was better than a cast because I could walk around in it with only minor pains, but it still sucked.

Finally, making it to the front entrance, I looked to the clock and found it was only 6:30am. Who was even awake this early in the summer? I opened the door only to be greeted by an exuberant seven year old and his God-like father. Edward was simply wearing jeans and a polo shirt, his hair was an absolute mess and he had some stubble on his face, but it took everything I had not to jump him. I finally took notice of the rest of his face and realized that he was gapping at me, his eyes wide and filled with what I was hoping was lust. It was my turn to smirk at his obvious perusal of my body, and he returned it with a sheepish grin.

"I'm really sorry to come over at such an inconvenient hour, but someone here was too impatient to start the day and has had me driven mad since five this morning." He gave a playful glare down at his son who was completely oblivious to his comment. Instead, Steven was bouncing on the spot, trying to look into the house behind me.

"Is Adam up yet? We have the whole day planned and I don't want to waste any time!" I laughed at his enthusiasm and stepped aside.

"He's still asleep, but seeing as the rest of us are all up maybe you could do me a favor and wake him? He sleeps like the dead though so you may have to jump on him." Steven didn't have to be told twice as he ran down the hall. I could hear him yelling excitedly at Adam to get up and soon heard Adam yelling as well as they both got together whatever they would need for the day.

I turned back to Edward, who was still looking at me apologetically and stifled a yawn. "Why don't you come in for some coffee? I have a feeling you're going to need it more than I will." He chuckled and I couldn't help but shiver slightly at the sound.

"Coffee sounds amazing. You'd think with my hours in the ER that I'd be used to the early morning rise." He yawned again while following me into the kitchen. He leaned up against the counter and I could feel his eyes on me as I went to get the coffee filter out of the cupboard. Deciding to have a little fun with him, I reached up further than necessary so that my robe rode up my legs, stopping just short of my ass. I swear I heard him utter a groan under his breath and when I looked at him, there was a blush tinting his cheeks.

I started the coffee and invited him to sit down at the small table. There was only me and my boy so there was no need for a grand dinning table. I took the seat across from him and leaned my head into one of my hands while looking at him. He stared back, neither of us speaking, just lost in the other's gaze.

"So, what plans do you have for the boys today?" I asked him, finally breaking the silence.

To my surprise, Edward actually pulled a list from his pocket and began to read off of it. "Well, first we will be going out to breakfast at IHOP to build up all the energy we will need for the day. Then, we will be going to the park to throw around a football, maybe play some soccer and of course go on the swings. Next on the list is a trip to the zoo, followed by lunch there. We will then proceed to the movie theatre to see 'Mega Mind' and at around 5, we will be coming back here to pick you up and all go out to dinner at Luigi's Pizza and Pasta."

He was smiling at me, excitement shining in his eyes, and I couldn't help the warm feelings that fluttered in my stomach when he looked at me like that.

"Sounds like a full day," I said, getting up to pour the coffee and handing him his mug. "I have no idea what I'm going to do. I don't think I've had a day to myself since Adam was born. What does one do when home alone for the first time in nearly five years?" I asked.

"Well, I personally would use it to catch up on sleep, but that may just be the five o'clock rise talking." He took a sip of the coffee and let out a contented sigh. "I think this may be the best coffee I've ever had. I bet your cooking is even better." He grinned at me and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Were you hinting at something or are you just trying to butter me up, Cullen? Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about having you and your son over for dinner." I teased him.

He was about to reply when our sons came charging into the room. "Come on, dad, let's go! We can't waste anymore time. Let's move, move, move!" Steven shouted excitedly while pulling on Edwards sleeve in hopes of making him move faster. Adam was practically vibrating with excitement, backpack on his back with shoes and jacket already on.

Edward just laughed. "Okay boys, you ready for a fun filled day?" They both cried out and he took one last gulp of his coffee before going to rinse it out in the sink.

"I've got it Edward. You guys go enjoy your day." I smiled warmly at him and took the mug from his hand before placing it next to mine on the counter. I knelt down in front of my son and took his face in my hands to make sure he was listening to me. "Now, you be good for Mr. Cullen, you hear? Listen to what he tells you and don't leave his or Steven's side. I'll be getting a full report when you get back so make sure you behave, kapish?"

"Yes, mom."

"Good, now give me a hug and go have fun." He wrapped his little arms around me and I kissed him on the head. After making sure my son had everything and confirming with Edward that he had an extra booster seat for Adam and my numbers just incase something went wrong, I waved them out and shut the door.

Looking around, the house just seemed so empty without Adam here.

Well, it was just for one day. I'd have to get used to it since he would soon be attending school. Nothing left but to figure out what to do with myself. There's always my sadly neglected novel I had been working on, but I had been having a bout of writers block and just the thought of trying to write made me cringe. The entire process, the plot outlining and character creation had been so easy. Even the first few chapters had seemed to just flow out of me. It all came to an abrupt halt when it came to writing a romantic scene between the two main characters…

So, unpacking it was. I hobbled into the spare room where I had brought all of the boxes and started on the first one I saw, which happened to be the box of books I had dropped yesterday. I glared at it for a moment before starting to place them on the shelf in the room that was to become my writing space.

After getting about six boxes done, I decided to take a break and settled in on the couch with my battered copy of The Princess Bride. It was my favorite book and had been read so many times that the spine had become one giant crease.

Reading was relaxing, but I could think of something that would relax me even more, something I hadn't done for years and craved now that it was on my mind.

The one thing I had indulged in when furnishing the house was a large soaker tub. During Adam's younger years I was never able to take anything more than a quick shower as it was only me taking care of him and even then I was limited to when he was sleeping and always had the baby monitor with me. Now that he was older and able to play on his own for a while and would be away at school during the weekdays, I thought it was time to pamper myself a little. Slipping into the hot water, I felt tension leave my muscles in places I didn't even know held tension.

Soaking for an hour, I decided that maybe it was time I took care of something else I hadn't had time to take care of recently. Closing my eyes, I pictured my dream from last night. Edward was hovering over me, caressing my body and murmuring about how beautiful I was, how he wanted to worship me. My own hands travelled my body as I imagined his would, paying some attention to my breasts before sliding a hand down to where I needed the attention most.

Unfortunately, that's when life decided it would no longer be fair.

There was a knock on the door and I froze. Sighing, I resigned myself to another night of frustration as I quickly pulled myself out, dried off, and strapped on the boot. It would seem I would once again be opening the door in my robe, though it couldn't be worse then this morning when Edward was on the other side.

Luck really wasn't my friend.

"Hello dear, you must be Bella. I'm Esme, Edward's mother."

* * *

I'm sorry this was such a short chapter. While editing I took a large part out and didn't have anything to fix it with. I was contemplating attaching it to the next chapter, but that would just throw off the reviews I already have. I figured it wasn't too much of an issue since you can just hit the next button, so consider this a bit of a filler and read on!

~Ingenuity15


	4. Chapter 4

**EPOV**

I followed the boys as they raced to the car and laughed at their enthusiasm. The sky was just starting to lighten up and I was happy to notice that it would be one of those rare, sunny days in Seattle. I was rather excited to spend the day with the boys and my smile brightened as their cheerful voices carried out towards me.

"Come on, dad. You're so slow!" Steven complained as he and Adam bounced impatiently by the car. I purposefully slowed my steps just to rile him up.

"This fast enough for you son?" Adam was giggling but Steven huffed before charging towards me and tugging on my hand to speed me up.

"We have to go! We have a plan that needs to be followed and we don't have time for your foolishness."

"My foolishness? Have you been talking with your Grandmother again?" By this time we had reached the car and I opened the door for them, helping Adam strap into Stevens old booster seat I had reinstalled last night and checking the child safety clip I had bought once Steven had demanded he use the grownup seatbelt.

Steven turned to me and grinned cheekily. "Nope. Aunt Rose says that to Uncle Em all the time."

"I don't have any Aunties or Uncles. Well Grandma makes me call her Auntie Renee because she thinks she's too young to be called Grandma, but no actual ones." He didn't sound sad about it, stating it as a fact.

"Well you can borrow my family sometime if you like. I also have an Aunt Alice and an Uncle Jasper and Grandma and Gramps. They're all pretty great and Grandma makes lots of cookies and lets me lick the bowl! Pretend you didn't hear that, dad!" I had a funny kid.

"You two men ready to get a hardy breakfast?" I questioned them.

They yelled back their confirmation and I pulled out of the driveway as they continued to talk about their families.

"I have a Grandpa Charlie though and I like him way better than Grandma. We go fishing and watch football and cartoons. He also has the coolest job ever!"

"What does he do?"

"He's a Chief! He let me see his badge and guns once and I got to ride in his police car with the sirens on! I'm gonna be a cop someday too and put away bad guys like he does." Just my luck, I finally have some interest in a woman and her father could shoot my ass and get away with it.

"That is so cool! My Gramps is a doctor like my dad and when I visit them at the hospital I get to dress up and use their stethoscope."

"What's a stesocope?"

"It's something that lets you listen to people's hearts!"

As the two boys continued to gab away I let my thoughts stray to this morning and how Bella had teased me with that tiny robe of hers. It was embarrassing how little control over my body I had around her and when she had reached up and revealed more of the creamy skin of her thighs… It had taken everything in me to stay where I was and not jump her.

"I see it! Floor it, dad, I'm starving!" My son's excited shouting brought me back to the present and I realized now was not the best time to be thinking about those kinds of things. I pulled into the parking lot of IHOP before turning around to set the ground rules.

"Okay boys, so here's the drill. No running around and yelling like maniacs, stay within my sight and Steven, please keep your pants on," I said the last part with a grin as my son began to protest.

"It was once, dad! Once! And it was all Uncle Em's fault for putting an ice cube down my shorts!" Steven was gesturing wildly as Adam and I laughed loudly.

"Sure son, sure. Now let's go get some grub!" They cheered and we all piled out of the car and into the IHOP. I was thankful to find a waiter there this morning, not the usual blonde waitress, and we were seated quickly with no flirting involved. It was lovely.

"Do you need a moment deciding what you'd like?"

"Boys?" I questioned.

They looked at each other before simultaneously saying, "Create-a-face pancake."

The waiter chuckled, "Two create-a-face pancakes it is. Milk or juice?" They both decided on milk and then he turned to me. "And how about you, sir?"

I got the same thing every time so I didn't even need to look at the menu. "I'll take the breakfast sampler with a coffee please."

It didn't take long before our meals arrived and the boys were making a mess with the yogurt, seeing who could make the silliest pancake face.

"Mine has fangs!"

"Well mine has fur!"

I laughed at them. To be honest, they both just looked like giant blobs to me. "Okay boys, start eating so we can get on the road. That football isn't going to throw itself." Steven dug right in but Adam just looked at me quizzically. "What?" I asked before taking a bite of my own meal.

"What are your intentions with my mother?" If anything could have made me choke on my food, that was it.

"What?" I asked in between coughs. Steven had leaned over and was patting me on the back while telling me to breathe. Yeah, like that was going to happen while I was possibly about to be interrogated by my gorgeous neighbor's son.

"I was talking to Grandpa Charlie last night and when I told him about all the staring you two were doing he told me to ask you what your intentions were. What are intentions?"

"They're like plans I guess. You can tell your Grandfather that for now my intentions are to be a good neighbor and friend, okay?" Like I was about to tell them that I wanted to date Bella. They have enough ammunition against me as is, no need to willingly give them more.

"Sounds good to me." We all dug into our food after that and the boys chatted excitedly about everything we were going to do that day.

"Mr. Edward? Could you teach me how to throw a football? I asked mom once but she tripped over the ball and then refused to touch it after." I chuckled because I could perfectly picture Bella doing that.

"You can just call me Edward, little man, and of course I'll teach you how to throw. You'll be a pro in no time." His face lit up and it wasn't long before I found myself being dragged back out to the car and driving us all to the park. "Now remember guys, stay within my sight please."

There were quite a few families there when we arrived but there was still plenty of room to play ball. If I had thought playing with just Steven was tiring, I was exhausted after an hour of football and soccer with the both of them. Adam seemed to never run out of energy and, somehow, brought out some hidden reserve inside of Steven as neither of them was even close to being out of breath. After a while I had to call it quits and told them to go play on the jungle gym.

I sat on a nearby bench and watched as they laughed and played like they had known each other their entire lives. I was so grateful to see my son so out going with someone other than his family and I could tell that Adam, and hopefully his mother, were going to become big parts of our lives.

.~***~.

"And then she kissed Steven on the cheek and told him that he was her new boyfriend!" Adam giggled as he recounted to me what had happened on the playground. Steven sat beside him wiping his face with the wetnap he had asked me for.

"It was so gross! I've been infected with cooties! Am I going to die dad?" he asked in a panicked voice.

"No son, you're not going to die. And trust me when I say in a couple of years you're going to be wishing for girls to come up and kiss you." I laughed as both he and Adam pulled a disgusted face and started making puking noises.

"Not going to happen. Nuh-uh."

"Well you just remember this conversation down the road and we'll see if you feel the same way. Now who's ready to see some monkeys?" I had just pulled into the parking lot of the zoo and we were way ahead of schedule due to the very early morning rise. It was just a little after ten and the movie didn't start until two, so we had about three and a half hours to spend looking at all the wildlife.

I had one boy on either side of me and they both had a hold of my hands, swinging them between us. "You know, I've never been to a zoo before. Are there really monkeys?" Adam questioned.

"Yeah! And lions and snakes and elephants… You've really never been to a zoo?" Steven replied in astonishment. "Dad, we have to go see everything now!"

"I'm sure if we don't see everything today we can come back again."

Their smiles brightened at the idea of having more days like this and, as was happening a lot that day, I found myself once again being dragged towards our destination.

"Two children and an adult please." I said to the woman working at the ticket booth, trying to ignore the fact that she was blatantly undressing me with her eyes.

"Sure thing, sugar. Can I do anything else for you?" She said in what I think was supposed to be a seductive tone. All it did was make me want to get away from her as quickly as possible.

"Just the tickets please."

"Here you go then, and here's my number in case you change your mind." She handed me the tickets and tried to slip in another piece of paper which, I'm assuming, contained her number but I moved quickly.

This time it was me who was doing the dragging as the boys tried to keep up with me. Once we were safely away Steven felt the need to explain my hasty departure to a confused looking Adam.

"Dad always has girls trying to be his girlfriend and sometimes they really scare him, so he likes to get away really fast." Adam nodded his head, indicating he understood, before jumping on the spot in excitement.

"Let's go see some animals!"

.~***~.

"Mom's never going to believe I actually held a snake! I mean, it was almost bigger than me!" Adam was still amazed by all the things he had seen at the zoo and his excitement over all the new things made Steven see them in new eyes as well. Bella had raised her son to be an amazing kid and I was glad he and Steven had hit it off as well as they did.

By this time, we were standing outside the movie theatre with the boys browsing all of the posters. "So what movie are we seeing again dad?"

"Mega Mind I think it's called. After that, we're going to go back to Adam's and pick up his mom so we can all go out for supper. Sound good to you two?" They both agreed, happy that their day wouldn't end after the movie and we soon walked into the theatre with our popcorn and drinks.

The room wasn't too crowded and the boys immediately went to the very top seats, talking enthusiastically about something or other on the way there. I couldn't tell you what happened during the movie as I was pretty well asleep during the entire thing, but the boys enjoyed it so that was all that mattered.

I was relieved when we pulled up to the house. As much as I had enjoyed spending all of this quality time with my son and Adam, I was a twenty-eight year old man and had nowhere near the energy level they had. To be honest, I was exhausted and looking forward to seeing Bella again, as well as getting help handling these hooligans.

As soon as I had the car in park, the boys had themselves seat unbuckled and were racing across the lawn and to Bella's. I walked at a much slower pace but was still there in time to hear Steven yell something I never expected.

"Grandma!"

Grandma? No, oh no. That could not be good. My mother had been there, in Bella's house, with Bella, for who knows how long. I figured I might as well just turn around and spare myself while I could.

Before I could head back to my own house I heard laughter and knew I had to go and stop things before they got worse. Sprinting now, I made it to the open door in record time but froze at what I saw inside.

It was my worst nightmare come true.

Sitting comfortably on the couch were Bella, my mother, and the two boys. That would normally be a fine thing to walk in on, however, when you add a coffee table cluttered with photo albums of me growing up and a home video currently playing, you get a terrifying scene.

I stood there mortified as Bella finally took notice of me. She tried to stifle her laughter but was doing a terrible job of it.

"Don't be embarrassed, Edward. I think you make a beautiful, blushing bride."

It was only then that I noticed exactly what tape was playing and collapsed into an arm chair, groaning. Alice and I had been six at the time when she decided she wanted to be a wedding planner. Of course, only having Emmett and me in the house, guess who got to play the part of the bride?

They were all howling with laughter now and I glared at them. "It's not funny. I was traumatized! How could you mother? I thought you loved me!" I accused her.

"Hello to you too, son. And of course I love you, but as soon as Steven told us about your new neighbors, I just had to stop by. I also just happened to have all of your baby photos and videos with me, and since you were saying what good friends you two had already become, I thought you wouldn't mind me sharing them." She smiled sweetly at me, but I knew better. She was embarrassing me on purpose and we both knew it.

"Moooooooom. Do you not want me to have any friends?" I pouted, but knew it was no use. She had grown immune to that look a long time ago.

"Stop pouting, Edward. You're a grown man and besides, Bella is still your friend, aren't you Bella?" She turned to the giggling woman beside her who was nodding and wiping tears of mirth from her eyes.

"Of course I am, and now I know just who to take when I need to go dress shopping." The two women continued to laugh at my expense while the boys started going through the albums, pointing and snickering every so often.

"Thanks," I replied dryly. Looking at the clock I was relieved to see that we would have to leave soon if we wanted to make our dinner reservation. "Well mom, it was nice seeing you. I'm sure Bella enjoyed meeting you and since you have now completed your job of making sure my face will never turn back to its normal color, could you please go home? I don't mean to be rude but we have to go now and I'd really like to retain some dignity." I was basically pleading with her to stop with the torture and, thankfully, she finally complied.

"Fine, spoil sport. It was so nice to meet you Bella and I'll be seeing you and Adam at supper next week, right?"

"We'll be there. Five o'clock?" My mother confirmed before leaning forward and kissing Bella on either cheek. She went to the boys for goodbyes next and gave them both giant hugs before finally making her way over to me.

She hugged me close and spoke low enough so that only I could hear, "This one's special Edward. Don't let her get away." She pulled back and lightly patted my cheek before leaving with a few final farewells.

"Your mother is fantastic," Bella said to me as she made to stand up. I helped her when I saw she was having trouble and received a grateful smile in return. I had forgotten just how right it felt to be in her presence and was really looking forward to spending more time with her.

Hopefully she'd say yes when I asked her out on a date at the end of the night.

So, that was Edward's day with the boys. There will be many more bonding moments to come and Bella still has to meet the rest of the family! Let me know what you guys think :)

~Ingenuity15


	5. Chapter 5

**BPOV**

My day had been filled with the unexpected. Everything from waking up to the first sex dream I'd had in years, to the early morning wake up call from the man in my dreams, to the surprise visit from said man's mother.

That sweet lady had made my week with her photos and videos of baby Edward.

When I had first opened the door to find her standing there, my first thought had been that there was absolutely no way that this woman was a mother to someone Edward's age. I mean, she had no wrinkles! I was only twenty-six and I had a few of them. But then I noticed all of the similarities between them, the high cheekbones, the shape and beautiful green shade of their eyes… Of course it would take someone like this to produce a man as good looking as Edward. I didn't even want to think about how handsome his father must be.

I had been a little apprehensive at first. I honestly had no idea what she wanted from me and I was embarrassed to be meeting her for the first time while obviously not dressed for company. Then she explained that she had just wanted to meet the neighbors that her son and grandson had been raving about at dinner yesterday. And well, when she mentioned home movies I really couldn't resist inviting her in for some tea.

Once I had excused myself for a moment to make myself more presentable, I was able to relax and I found that I really enjoyed Esme's company. She was so loving and it felt like having a real mother. Not that I didn't love Renee in a way, it was just that I had always been the adult in our relationship and she never exuded the kind of motherly warmth that Esme did.

Once we had settled down, she had started asking me things such as how I liked Seattle and if I was getting settled in okay. I told her, with a blushing face, how I had hurt my ankle and how I was very grateful that Edward was able and willing to help me.

I have never heard anyone speak with so much pride for someone else's accomplishments. Esme positively gushed about how her son had worked so hard to become the doctor he was today. She explained how Edward had graduated high school a year early and was accepted into all of the top schools, deciding on one of the better ones closer to home so he wasn't too far from his family. He took on extra courses so that he could graduate in six years instead of eight and came out second in his class. He was offered an internship and then a job at Seattle General as soon as he had finished and had been working there in the ER for two years now.

Esme told me that he could have done anything. He was musically gifted and obviously brilliant, but he chose to follow in his father's footsteps and help save lives. It was obvious that Edward was her pride and joy.

I also learned a lot about Edward's siblings. I was informed that his older brother Emmett was a beast, but wouldn't hurt a fly. Esme basically described him as a giant teddy bear and I was actually looking forward to possibly meeting him in the future. He was a gym teacher at the local elementary school and might be teaching Adam once he started there in the fall.

Alice, however, would probably scare me. From what Esme told me she was like a hyper pixie. She owned her own clothing store and apparently could shop for hours on end. It was her favorite past time. I was a single mom and hadn't been shopping for just myself in years… I'm pretty sure she would weep if she saw my closet.

Esme also proudly announced that her daughter was pregnant. It was apparent that she loved her family dearly and she positively glowed when she spoke about another grandchild on the way.

The whole time she was telling me about her family, we had been looking through the albums and had popped in a video of Alice and Edward's second birthday. Every now and then she would stop to explain the story behind one of the more humorous pictures and the longer we spent together, the more I felt like a part of the family.

Eventually she started asking me about myself. Thankfully she never got too personal by asking about Adam's father or why we moved, but I did tell her all about the difficulties of being a single mother at such a young age. I also explained to her how rewarding these past few years with my son had been. Sure, I had missed out on a lot of things to raise my son, but I thought of it more as trading one sort of experience for another.

If I had the choice, I wouldn't change a thing.

By the time the kids came running through the door, Esme had officially adopted Adam and me into the family. She said that although she hadn't met him yet, she had never seen Steven take to someone so quickly. He was picky with who he liked and so she said anyone that could befriend him like my son had, had to be amazing.

As soon as the boys came in the video on screen changed and I paused for a moment before I started to laugh uncontrollably. There stood a young Edward, walking down a makeshift isle wearing a white dress, lipstick, and a huge scowl. Esme and Adam were laughing along with me while Steven sat next to us and tilted his head in confusion, wondering why his father was dressed like a girl.

I had just calmed down when Edward had come sprinting through the door, looking like a deer caught in headlights. I tried hard not to start laughing again, but the look of absolute horror that crossed his face as he stared at the television screen made it impossible.

It was clear that Edward wanted his mother to leave before he was embarrassed further, but I was honestly enjoying her company too much. I introduced her to my son and she treated him no differently than she did Steven.

She did eventually leave, which left me sitting in the car with my hot neighbor and our two boys. Edward was quiet the whole ride as he contemplated something and I was content to sit back and listen to the boys chatting about their day. By the sounds of it, they had had quite the time and I was ecstatic that my son was so happy here. I had worried about him the most during the move and now that he was smiling more than I had ever seen, it felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

We pulled into the lot of Luigi's and Edward helped the boys out while I did my best to get out while maneuvering the clunky boot. The place had such a warm, family feeling and I instantly knew we would be coming back here often. A friendly, middle-aged woman greeted us and I heard Edward sigh in relief, though I had no idea why.

The boys decided that they wanted to sit next to each other which left me scooting into the booth so that Edward could fit in next to me. The boys were still chatting amongst themselves and I figured I'd ask about their day later.

"So, exactly how long was my mother there and how much did she tell you?" Edward questioned me apprehensively.

I recalled all of the stories I had heard and failed at keeping a straight face which caused Edward to groan and plant his face to the table.

"Oh come on now, it's not that bad! We've all had embarrassing childhood moments. I mean, so what if I happen to know you wanted to be a Spice Girl when you grew up." I laughed as he groaned again in defeat.

"I can't believe my own mother would betray me like that. I thought I was her favorite!" he whined as I pated his back consolingly.

"I like her."

"So do I!" my son interjected. "She told me that when I come over we could have cookies and ice-cream!"

"She did, did she? Are you planning on sharing any with me?" He shook his head as a negative and I gasped theatrically. "You wouldn't share with your own mother?"

"I'm sorry mom, but you know I don't joke around when it comes to cookies."

Edward joined me in laughter as I shook my head at my son. The sad thing was I knew it was true. He took his sweets very seriously.

The same lady that had greeted us chose that moment to show up and take our orders. We ordered a large pepperoni pizza with extra cheese, the boys insisted, and while we waited for it I asked them about their day.

"It was so much fun, mom! We ate these gargantuam pancakes, and then we beat Edward in football, _and then_ we went to the zoo! That was my favorite part because of all of the aminals."

"Animals, sweetie."

"Those too." I rolled my eyes at him but smiled. I raised a pretty cute kid.

"What about you Steven? What was your favorite part?"

He put some serious thought into it first before replying, "Well, I really liked that I got to spend the whole day out with dad because we haven't done that in a while. I also liked the zoo because Adam hadn't gone before so I could teach him about all of the animals there."

I felt Edward's shoulders droop a little and was surprised to see the sad expression on his face. I tried to figure out what had caused the sudden change in mood when I remembered what Steven had said about not going out with his dad a lot.

I leaned over so that my lips were by his ear and whispered to him, "You're a great father, Edward. Steven has turned out as well as he has because of you. Don't ever think otherwise."

He gave me one of his crooked grins and I returned it.

"I really did have fun, but I missed you, mom. Can you come with us next time? Or I guess when your foot's all better?" I nearly cried. I felt someone squeeze my hand and realized that it was Edward's turn to comfort me.

"Of course, honey," I managed to choke out. No one but a mother could understand just how much it means when your child tells you that they've missed you and that they want to spend more time with you. I knew that these days weren't going to last forever and so I was going to enjoy them while I could.

Thankfully the pizza arrived and distracted the boys long enough for me to pull myself together. Edward kept giving me understanding looks and it was nice to not have to explain what I was feeling to someone for once and just have them know.

"I was thinking," Edward began after we had been eating in silence for a few moments, "I'm off this Sunday and we're supposed to have this giant rainstorm…" He trailed off and Steven's eyes opened comically as he began to eagerly bounce in his seat.

"Can we dad? We haven't done that in _so _long! And it would be so totally, super awesome if Adam and Bella were there too!" Edward chuckled and my son and I shared a confused look.

"That was the plan, Steven. Do you want to explain it to them or do you want me to?"

"I'll tell them!" His excitement was palpable as he began to explain. "Every time dad's off and there's a storm we have a tradition. We're willing to let you two in on it but you have to follow the rules and you can't tell anyone else about it because it's a secret!"

I managed to keep a straight face as both Adam and I pinkie-promised to obey the tradition rules and not to say a word to anyone. "Well, rule number one, well really the only rule, is that you can't wear anything but pajamas. We start off with brunch, well we try to make brunch but dad usually ends up burning it all and we just have pb&j sandwiches. Maybe we can actually have something if you come over with us Bella!"

I smiled at Edward's obvious embarrassment as his son ratted him out on his lack of cooking skills. I assured Steven that should we join them, I would be more than happy to help them cook. That seemed to make him even more determined to convince us to join them.

"After that we build a fort in the theatre room and we spend the entire day watching movies, playing board games, and a bunch of other fun stuff! We even sleep in the fort _all_ night! It's so much fun and you guys really need to join us. Pleeeeeease!"

"Yeah, please mom?"

They were double teaming me. Scratch that, it was a triple teaming. Edward was giving me the same pleading look as the boys and I knew he wouldn't be helping me. I didn't understand how this was happening so fast. I had met Edward and Steven _yesterday_ and I was already contemplating staying over to their house. I had let him take my child out after knowing him a few hours and I had already met his mother.

Things were happening way too fast, but I was absolutely powerless to stop it. I knew I shouldn't, but I already trusted Edward with my life and the life of my son, which is something I have never trusted a man - other than my father – with.

"Fine. You win. But only if you let me make dinner." The boys cheered loudly and I laughingly shushed them as the other patrons in the restaurant began to stare at us. They started planning out what movies we would watch and everything else as soon as I agreed. I felt a weight lay across my shoulders and Edward pulled me in for a one armed hug.

"Thanks for agreeing. Steven would have been really disappointed if you had said no."

"Only Steven, huh?" I smirked at him and he chuckled under his breath.

"So I may have been a little sad too," he admitted.

Curiously, I asked him, "So how did this little tradition get started?"

"Well, when Steven was about Adam's age, he was absolutely terrified of storms. Nothing could keep him calm and so I decided distractions were probably the way to go. The fort in the living room became his little bubble and he wasn't bothered by the storm so much anymore. He isn't afraid of them anymore, but it's just something we continue to do. I work a lot and so this is time I treasure with him." I couldn't help it. I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"You really are an amazing father, you know that?" I whispered as he recovered from his momentary shock and returned the embrace. I pulled away shortly after, trying to ignore the scheming looks the boys were giving us, and blushed at my momentary forwardness. Clearing my throat awkwardly I said, "So, are you sure you don't mind myself and Adam joining you two? I really wouldn't want to intrude on something special."

Edward shook his head and gave me a reassuring smile. "There is nothing I'd like more than to have you and Adam join us. And Bella? I think you're an amazing parent too."

.~***~.

The boys decided that they were going to have a sleepover in Adam's room that night, stating that they needed to continue their planning. As soon as the car had come to a stop they took off and used the key I'd given them to open the door. I was just about to open my own car door when Edward stopped me.

"Wait a second, okay?" He got out of the drivers side and came around to mine, opening the door for me like a real gentleman. I've come to expect this kind of behavior from Edward, what I didn't expect was for him to reach in and pick me up bridal style, making it seem effortless.

I squealed in surprise and hit his shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"I thought it was pretty obvious that I was carrying you to your door." The ass had the nerve to grin cockily at me and so I hit his shoulder again. I was about to demand that he put me down when I realized we had already reached the front porch. "There you go milady, home safe and sound."

He was obviously very proud of himself, but I could see something else he was trying to hide. He was nervous.

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow sometime neighbor?" I asked.

"Um, yeah. I'll see you then. Sweet dreams, Bella." He hesitated for a moment, seeming to debate with himself about something. Eventually he took a deep breath and, with a look of determination, leaned in and placed a lingering kiss on my cheek. "Night."

He turned and walked to his own home. I watched the whole time, unable to make myself move until he was out of sight. The place where his lips had touched was tingling and I'm sure there was a goofy smile gracing my face.

I went to check on the boys only to find that they had already passed out on Adam's bed. They looked like little angels resting there, but I knew once they woke up it would be chaos as usual. Tucking the blanket around them, I left the room, making sure the door was still cracked open should they need me.

It was only around eight, so I really wasn't all that tired. I decided to take the few hours of silence I had and work on my book. It was the last thing I wanted to do seeing how my writer's block was causing me nothing but frustration, but I was going to force myself to sit there and write something.

Once again, I looked at the blank page which was supposed to hold the big romance scene between my two characters. They were finally about to profess their love and I needed to make the audience really feel the adoration they held for each other in every word. These scenes were really hard for me to write because I've never had this kind of thing happen to me. Most times I just try to put myself in someone else's shoes, but this time something much more frightening happened.

I pictured Edward and myself in place of the main characters and found the words flowing almost seamlessly. The scene appeared to write itself and the confusion I felt as the feelings coursed through me absolutely shocked me. I wasn't in love with Edward Cullen, but if I wasn't careful then it wouldn't be long before I was.

That got me thinking; did I really want to be careful? Edward was an amazing man and father with an equally amazing son who got along swimmingly with Adam. Why would I be cautious and try to keep my distance when there could possibly be a future with them in our lives? I could already see that he was completely different from every other man I had ever met and he really was someone special.

I finally made a decision. If Edward hadn't asked me out by the end of Sunday, I was going to make the first move myself.

* * *

So there you have it! Feelings are stirring already and both are determined to go on a date, though it would appear that Edward chickened out a little at the end there. Thoughts?

~Ingenuity15


	6. Chapter 6

**BPOV**

Quiet.

I was once again home alone as Esme had stopped by earlier in the morning and insisted on taking the boys while Edward took me to get my x-ray and then went to work for a 12pm-12am shift. Apparently the benefits of having a doctor for your neighbor meant appointments that usually took hours only took one. Once it was confirmed that Edward had been right and I was officially prescribed with the boot and rest, Edward drove me back home while I promised him chicken parmesan soon. I called Esme to let her know she could return the kids, but she refused to do so until she was good and ready to hand them over. Honestly, I think she just wanted the chance to spoil my son - or her honorary grandson as she had labeled him - as much as she spoiled Steven.

I just wasn't used to it. I had been raising Adam as a single mom since the day he was born and had been constantly on the go for all of those years. The idea of sitting back and doing nothing but relaxing was completely foreign to me. If I didn't get up and do something soon, I was going to go crazy!

I had originally planned to get some sun and catch up on some reading out on the back deck, but the rain that had started to come down foiled that plan. The rhythmic 'drip drop' wasn't helping my restless mood and, to make matters worse, I had tripped over my laptop cord, causing it to snap. So much for getting some writing done on a rainy day.

Looking at the clock, I realized it was about noon and that I had been mindlessly flipping through the television stations for an hour. Contemplating if it was worth the possible scolding from my gorgeous, green-eyed doctor if I unpacked a few boxes, I was startled by the doorbell ringing.

I hadn't been expecting anyone, but perhaps Edward had some more family that made a habit of visiting complete strangers…

"Mom!" I looked down in surprise as my son wrapped his damp arms around me.

"Hi Miss Swan!" Steven was standing in the open doorway, hair plastered to his head, with a giant grin on his face. I looked past him in confusion and saw Esme trudging up the stairs with an umbrella in hand.

"Didn't I tell you boys to wait for me? Now look at how wet you are!" She scolded as she finally reached where the boys and I were standing. "I'm so sorry for the surprise visit dear but an emergency has come up. Apparently there was a mix up on the caterer's end for the hospital's charity gala I'm organizing and I need to go do damage control. I would happily take the boys with me but apparently they'd be 'uber' bored. Would you mind terribly if they stayed here, just while I sort this out? They've promised to play quietly so that you can continue to have the relaxing day I promised you."

I couldn't believe she was actually asking me if I wouldn't mind looking after my own son. Sure, Steven was included, but he was a good kid and didn't seem like much trouble. "Of course I wouldn't mind watching them. I was just thinking about how bored I was anyway. I hope you're able to sort everything out for your gala."

"Thank you so much dear! I'll see you soon I'm sure." She kissed my cheek, gave the boys a quick hug, and then made her way back to the car. She didn't seem like the type of person to rush around like this so it was my guess that the problem with the caterer was a rather large one.

Clapping my hands, I turned to the boys who were dripping water all over the floor. "So, how about you two go dry off while I make some lunch, and then we'll figure out something to do? Do you have an extra set of clothes, Steven?"

The older boy nodded. "Yes Miss Swan, Grandma packed me a bag of stuff I had at her house before we came over here."

"Let me get you boys some towels then, and please call me Bella. Miss Swan makes me feel old."

"But you are old mom," my son piped up. He really knew how to pay his dear mother a compliment.

"Yes son, but that doesn't mean I like to _feel _old."

It was then that Steven tried to console me in my old age. "It's okay, Miss Bella. My dad's old too. You guys can be old together!" Apparently they both thought that was a brilliant idea because they walked off to Adam's room talking about the different ways we could 'be old together' such as reading the newspaper and taking afternoon naps. Nice to know what their perception of 'old' involved.

I found the box labeled 'towels' and brought a few in to the boys and then wiped up all the water they had trailed through the house. They found me in the kitchen, thankfully all dry, and sat at the table while I placed a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches in front of them. I was very thankful that I had decided to buy all of my groceries on our way out the first day and had gotten them unpacked before the 'box of books' incident because I really doubt my doctor would allow me a trip to the store, especially since I couldn't drive with the damn boot.

"This is the best grilled cheese I've ever had! But don't tell dad because this is one of the only things he can make and I wouldn't want him to think he's bad at it." Steven said as he took another bite of sandwich.

"That's okay. Mom's the best at cooking, and she makes really good sweets too! Mom, can we show Steven how to make Gammy Swan's super, duper, chocolaty chip brownies? Pleeeeease?" I held up my hand before he could start to do the whole batting lashes thing. It's not like we could go outside with the rain and baking sounded fun, so why not?

"You guys find the aprons and I'll find the pots and pans." Adam squealed in excitement and dragged Steven over to start digging through the boxes.

It took about twenty minutes to find everything we would need, but we finally had it all set up and were ready to start. "Okay, first things first, I need one of you to measure out 2 cups of sugar." I watched as Adam held the measuring cup and Steven did the pouring. Surprisingly, they managed to not spill any and I got them to put that in the bowl.

"The flour's next, right mom?"

"Right squirt, one cup of flour and then two eggs." They managed to get the flour with no problems, but Adam accidentally dropped one of the eggs when he went to take it from the carton.

"Sorry mom!" He looked at me sheepishly but I just waved it off. You did not bake with two youngsters and not expect to have some sort of mess. I went to get a cloth so I could clean up the egg, knowing someone would probably slip on it, when I heard a bang and a gasp from the kitchen.

I knew I probably shouldn't have laughed, but the look of shock on both of their faces was priceless. The first thing I saw upon walking in was a cloud of chocolate powder, which soon cleared to show the two boys looking completely stunned as they took in the mess around them.

By the looks of it, Adam was walking with the open bag of cocoa powder when he slipped on the egg (as I had predicted) and spilled it over himself, Steven, and the kitchen.

"Mom, it's not funny! I'm gonna have to have a bath now!" Adam pouted from his place on the floor.

"At least it's yummy." Steven chimed in as he licked some of the powder from his hands.

I was still laughing, that is until I felt something hit my face. I stopped abruptly, staring at my son who was trying so hard to look innocent, and dragged a finger down my cheek. I looked at the chocolate powder that stained my once clean finger and, calmly, walked towards the counter.

"Mom, I'm sorry! It slipped?" he tried. I wasn't going to let him off that easy though.

"You do realize this means war right?" He was about to protest when I threw the flour I was holding at him. He just stared at me for a moment before picking up another handful of cocoa.

"Charge!"

I don't know how long our impromptu food fight lasted, or how Steven got dragged into it, but by the end we were all on the floor, lying on our backs and out of breath. No part of us was left uncovered by flour, cocoa powder, egg, or sugar and the kitchen didn't make it out unscathed either. The pots and pans we used as shields were scattered everywhere, as were the wooden spoons that started out as slingshots and ended up as swords.

"Do you think we have enough ingredients to finish the brownies?" Came Steven's voice from my right. Good question. I did a quick estimate of how much we would need and how much we had thrown and came to the conclusion that we had enough for at least one batch.

"Let's finish these off and get washed up."

We managed to finish baking without any more incidents and then the boys went to wash off. Steven assured me that he didn't need any assistance and even washed behind his ears on his own, so I showed him to the guest bathroom and gave him some of Adam's clothes that were too big and should fit him.

I then took Adam to the bathroom in my room and gave him a quick bath. By the time both boys were washed and dried, the brownies were ready to come out. I cut them out a piece each but made them promise to wait until they were cooled down before they ate.

"Okay you two, it's my turn to clean off. Don't touch the pan, it's hot, and if I'm not out by the time you're done eating go play in Adam's room. No climbing over the furniture like monkeys, kapeesh?"

They nodded, but their hungry gazes didn't leave the brownies in front of them. I chuckled to myself but let them be. I trusted them not to get into too much trouble.

**EPOV**

"Oh Eddie, you look so tense. I can help you with that…" Did she honestly think she sounded seductive like that? I think I'd rather listen to nails on a chalkboard. And how many times did you have to turn someone down before they got the hint?

"It's Dr. Cullen, not Eddie, Nurse Mallory." I cringed as she laid her crimson painted talons on my arm and cackled.

"You are so funny Eddie!" We were in the break room and people were starting to stare. The head ER surgeon, who happened to be great friends with my father and in charge of staff here, knew of my troubles with Miss Mallory's advances and had advised me to be as blunt as possible the next time it happened. He was at the opposite end of the room and gave me an encouraging nod. My problem was that my mother had raised me to show respect to all women, even when they haven't necessarily earned it.

However, this had gone on too long and I was done with it. "Nurse Mallory, I'm positive that I've started clearly many times that you are to refer to me as Dr. Cullen and nothing more. I would appreciate if you would remove your hand from my person and not touch me again. I do not appreciate your innuendos, nor do I plan on taking you up on any of your offers. If you continue to act in such an unprofessional manner, I will be filing a complaint for sexual harassment." I turned on my heals and left for my office, leaving behind a very agitated bottled blonde and a few snickering spectators.

As soon as I got behind closed doors, I settled into my chair and relaxed for the first time that day. The ER had been insanely busy all afternoon because a bus had gone off road and quite a few people had to be rushed in. Thankfully everything was rather routine and no one would suffer any long-term injuries. I was glad that I could sit and take a breather though.

A blinking to my left caught my eye, letting me know I had one new message.

_Hello son, I hope your day is going well. There was an emergency with the gala planning so I dropped the boys off at Bella's. She was so sweet about it, even though I promised her a day off. Are you going to invite her as your date? You really should you know. I like her and I know you do too. I just can't wait until you two get married and start giving me more grandbabies! Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but I'm serious Edward, if you don't invite her, I'll do it for you! Love you honey, give the boys and Bella a kiss for me when you see them next! And don't forget to remind them about dinner next week too! _

I laughed at just how insane my mother was. Did I like Bella? Most definitely. Did I see us getting married? It was way too soon to tell, but I knew that she was one of a kind and that I was really looking forward to getting to know her better.

There was a knock on the door and I prayed to whatever God there was that it was not Nurse Mallory. Thankfully, someone was listening as Dr. Volturi stepped in a moment later.

"I'm proud of you Edward. That girl really needs to learn how to act like a young lady and she won't do that until she realizes just how ridiculous she appears. If her mother wasn't my sister and she didn't do her job well, I would have fired her ages ago for her inappropriate behavior towards you. It's slow now and I've decided to stay for a few hours to finish up some paperwork. Consider yourself on call for the rest of your shift and go spend some time with your son and this new neighbor your mother was telling me about." He winked at me and left, leaving me gaping at the closed door. She really couldn't keep these things to herself, could she?

Not about to turn down a free evening, I packed up my stuff and left the hospital. It only took about five minutes to drive from there to the house and I was quickly dashing up the stairs to stand on Bella's porch. I took a moment to compose myself, and maybe look a little less excited then I felt, before knocking on the door.

I heard the rush of feet anf then a hushed conversation. "Who goes there?" I laughed as Adam's voice sounded through the door. I was glad that he was taught to never open the door to strangers.

"It's Steven's dad."

"I guess you may enter." He was about to open the door when I heard Steven speaking to him.

"Wait, how do we really know it's my dad? You can't be too careful nowadays."

"But it sounds just like him!"

"But what if it's one of those voice impersonators like they have on TV?"

"Do you think it could be? Well what do we do then?"

"How about we ask him a question only my dad will know?"

"Yeah! Okay, if you're really Steven's dad you have to answer this question… What's the question?"

I was trying really hard not to laugh but a few chuckles managed to slip out. At least I knew there was very little chance of someone taking them, though I had to wonder why they were answering the door and not Bella.

"Hmmm… Okay, I got it! What do we call Aunt Alice when she's not around?"

She'd kill me if she knew what I was getting my son to call her. "Crazy pixie! Can I come in now? It's starting to get cold out here with all of this rain."

The door creaked open and two heads cautiously peaked out before opening the door enough for me to walk in.

I nearly walked back out when I saw the damage to the kitchen. "Boys, why does it look like a tornado swept through here?"

They didn't look guilty so I was really hoping that Bella already knew about this. "Dad, it was so much fun! We were making brownies, they're soooo good by the way, anyways, while we were making them Adam slipped on some egg and spilled the cocoa powder allll over us and the kitchen. Bella started laughing at us so he threw some of the powder at her and got it on her face. Then Bella got some flour and threw it at him, then one of them hit me so I started throwing stuff and it turned into an all-out food war! I think me and Adam won though because we got to eat the brownies after."

I was really going to have to teach him how to breathe when speaking. "Sounds like lots of fun. Where's your mom to Adam?"

"She's in her room. Come on Steven, I want to show you my dinosaurs!" And just like that I was by myself in the middle of the room. I walked to the door Adam had pointed out as being Bella's room and knocked.

When there was no answer I knocked a little louder. "Bella?" Still no answer. Knowing how clumsy she could be, I started to worry, thinking that she might have fallen and knocked herself out.

Weighing the pros and cons, I decided that I wouldn't be able to just stand out here if there was a possibility she was hurt. "Okay, I'm coming in then." The door wasn't locked so I was able to get in easily, however, there was no Bella in sight.

I was just about to leave when a door to my left opened and out came an angel in nothing but a towel. Her wet hair cascaded around her and little droplets of water littered her collarbone, begging me to lick them off.

She had her eyes closed as she walked out so she didn't notice me, but her little shriek once she did startled me out of my fantasies and I fully realized the predicament I had gotten myself in.

Her hand flew to her chest and her breathing became more labored as an after effect of her fright. "Edward, you scared me half to death, what are you doing here anyway?" I almost didn't hear her as her chest was now moving more rapidly and mesmerized me further.

"I… early from work… and the boys… and you… thought you had fallen… and towel… and holy shit… I'm just… I'll be going now." Her cheeks had started out red in embarrassment, but soon faded as an amused grin graced her face. She obviously knew what she was doing to me, and she seemed to be enjoying it.

I ran out of the room, shut the door and leaned against it, hitting my head repeatedly off the door. "Stupid, stupid, stupid…"

I didn't notice that the boys were there until they both started questioning me... loudly I might add.

"Dad, why are you hitting your head like that?"

"And why did my mom scream?"

"And why are your pants sticking out like that?"

Bella's laughter rang through the door and I could only hope that my son wouldn't tell the rest of the family about this moment.

Maybe I could bribe him with a puppy…

This was one of my favorite chapters to write and I hope you all enjoyed it as well! Next up; Saturday storm fun!

~Ingenuity15


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